NECRO started to learn to drive stick today NECRO

[Kaido]

Relevant: http://jalopnik.com/genius-parents-curb-teens-distracted-driving-with-manu-496309265

 

[kitatech]

Having driven close to 3/4 million miles on clutches....I think I understand the engine braking point trying to be made...

Even though you CAN manually drop down to a lower gear with an AT, most ATs are designed to get out of the lower gears ASAP (for higher MPG)...and most drivers just keep the AT in "D"...
...whereas the driver of an MT can stay in the lower gear longer and use the lower gearing and higher RPM's braking energy to monitor and control speed by simply backing off the accelerator and without applying the brakes...

I use 3rd to keep me from "creeping" MPH past 45 when the speed limit is 40....4th gear keeps me from creeping much past 50...I can feel the engine's power more by such gearing...modern cars' are so quiet that this helps keep speed under control...

In traffic I can stay in 3rd between 10mph and 40mph so I don't find myself constantly shifting as many people seem to think they have to do...and as long as I'm moving at all I can stay in 2nd, up to 25 before I really have to shift to 3rd for cruising...though in heavy traffic I'd stay in 2nd...

The only negative aspect of this technique is that unlike AT cars that have to brake to slow down, thus showing brake lights to cars behind that they are slowing down, engine braking gives no such clue to those at the rear....THAT requires keeping an eye on cars behind me to keep an adequate distance between them and me.

 

[mmntech]

I went riding dirt bikes last year and picked it up fairly quickly. Didn't stall it too many times. The kick down then twice up kept throwing me for a loop though.

A coworker is selling his manual Lanos in the summer so I'm going to borrow it for a weekend before it goes. Would like to go manual for my next car. Especially since I've been eying the Mustang and 500 Abarth.

I really think driving schools should go back to manual cars. It's safer since it removes the temptation to drive distracted. All these driving aids they're adding aren't making cars any safer. They're just putting operating the vehicle lower down on the priority list for dummies.

 

[QueBert]

Respect to the poster who said he bought a stick and learned to drive it heading home in rush hour traffic. You deserve a medal, jebus. I think I might test drive the auto to see if I like the car in general, if I do I'll buy the manual and put around my block for a few days until I'm comfortable with it. No way I'm going to even attempt to try and learn while dealing with traffic on the 91 freeway.

Also thanks to the people who mentioned feathering the clutch with no gas and trying to idle without stalling. That sounds very helpful, my friend who's instructing me gave me no such pointer.

 

[GTaudiophile]

You haven't been tested with a stick until you find yourself on a hill between a car stopped at a stop sign and one on your rear bumper!!! 🙂 Learn to use that e-brake!

But once you master it all it's like riding a bike. You can drive just about any stick on any make/model.

 

[Throckmorton]

Also thanks to the people who mentioned feathering the clutch with no gas and trying to idle without stalling. That sounds very helpful, my friend who's instructing me gave me no such pointer.

My dad tried to get me to do that when I was learning to drive stick, and I thought I was a failure when I couldn't. Don't get hung up on it.

 

[tcG]

Also, you have to know where the engagement point is. When I first started learning manual my main problem in first gear was that I had no clue where the engagement point was, so I was slowly letting out the clutch and giving gas like you are supposed to, but I was doing it throughout the entire travel of the clutch, so that when the actual engagement point came I was likely already giving too much gas and not letting the clutch out slowly enough.

You should be able to visualize in your mind how far up the travel the engagement point actually is.

 

[Possessed Freak]

I purchased a POS saturn with a manual transmission w/o knowing how to drive it. It was a FUN few weeks afterward.

See I have barely any feeling in my feet (from a prior accident that caused leg/nerve damage). So I basically know I am feathering or whatnot based on resistance in my muscles vs any pressure on my feet. I did start to learn cheating techniques (rev matching/clutchless shifting), but I did pretty well. I only ground the gears a few times, and never while learning... always when I was trying to do something too quickly and I didn't think the process through.

Starting on an incline was ultra fun though, I recall releasing the clutch slightly and then more and soon my car was rolling backwards with my foot off the clutch... yeah that smelled good.

 

[QueBert]

Also, you have to know where the engagement point is. When I first started learning manual my main problem in first gear was that I had no clue where the engagement point was, so I was slowly letting out the clutch and giving gas like you are supposed to, but I was doing it throughout the entire travel of the clutch, so that when the actual engagement point came I was likely already giving too much gas and not letting the clutch out slowly enough.

You should be able to visualize in your mind how far up the travel the engagement point actually is.

OHHH this is me, I was getting the RPM's way too high before the clutch was out and was having to ease up on the gas. Everyone I've talked to has said they had similar troubles at first. And lucky for me I haven't came across a single person who said even after a lot of practice they were unable to drive stick. So there is hope yet.

 

[NutBucket]

You'll figure it out. Just takes some people longer than others. Having a decent instructor helps too 😛

 

[jaqie]

now try backing a wagon (not just a trailer) down a quarter mile driveway with a manual.... that was how my father made sure I was ready to drive a manual....

 

[xSkyDrAx]

OHHH this is me, I was getting the RPM's way too high before the clutch was out and was having to ease up on the gas. Everyone I've talked to has said they had similar troubles at first. And lucky for me I haven't came across a single person who said even after a lot of practice they were unable to drive stick. So there is hope yet.

Yes you'll figure it out, that is a certainty. It may seem like a tall mountain to climb when you're facing it since the idea of stalling in traffic when you've never had that happen before is a terrifying proposition but it's really not that bad (okay well it is that bad the first couple of times) but once you're smooth even stalls will be fine.

Another 'trick' that you'll need to learn once you drive stick is learning how to ignore everyone if you ever stall out. This is pretty crucial in the beginning because if you're like everyone else out there, the first time you stall on public roads with cars behind you, you will panic. And when you panic, you'll rush, and when you rush, you stall. Over and over.

But once you figure it out it's not so bad. Where I live, from time to time, you'll see small Asian girls, that don't look anything like the stereotypical driving enthusiasts, in STi's and s2000s driving around and it makes you think "they don't even look like they care about cars and they can do it, why can't I?"

 

[Kaido]

Another 'trick' that you'll need to learn once you drive stick is learning how to ignore everyone if you ever stall out. This is pretty crucial in the beginning because if you're like everyone else out there, the first time you stall on public roads with cars behind you, you will panic. And when you panic, you'll rush, and when you rush, you stall. Over and over.

Yeah, that's why I always tell people who are learning stick to get the restart procedure down pat...flip up the e-brake, foot on the clutch, foot off the brake, press the gas a bit. Nice little quick-start safety process.

Because there's nothing to get your pulse going like being a new driver and stalling out at a huge intersection with a line of people honking at you to get going at a green light, all while sitting on a steep hill and trying not to roll back :biggrin:

 

[_Rick_]

Getting going is so easy.
Select first gear, 4k revs, dump the clutch, floor the accelerator 😀

Unless you're in an underpowered car on a steep incline, usually you should take off without too much trouble (except spinning tires :awe🙂

 

[Kaido]

Getting going is so easy.
Select first gear, 4k revs, dump the clutch, floor the accelerator 😀

Unless you're in an underpowered car on a steep incline, usually you should take off without too much trouble (except spinning tires :awe🙂

Except that you were granny-shifting instead of double-clutching like you should have :awe:

 

[Kaido]

I purchased a POS saturn with a manual transmission w/o knowing how to drive it. It was a FUN few weeks afterward.

See I have barely any feeling in my feet (from a prior accident that caused leg/nerve damage). So I basically know I am feathering or whatnot based on resistance in my muscles vs any pressure on my feet. I did start to learn cheating techniques (rev matching/clutchless shifting), but I did pretty well. I only ground the gears a few times, and never while learning... always when I was trying to do something too quickly and I didn't think the process through.

Starting on an incline was ultra fun though, I recall releasing the clutch slightly and then more and soon my car was rolling backwards with my foot off the clutch... yeah that smelled good.

I was fortunate, one of my old stick-shift car's transmissions was so beat up when I got it that I could do clutchless shifting effortlessly within a range of RPM's. It still ran forever, don't ask me how :biggrin:

 

[SyndromeOCZ]

When I learned how to drive a stick I caught on rather quickly. I stalled it about 3 times, then took of the parking brake and then it was smooth after that. Although the second time I drove a stick I was pulling a 16' trailer and hit a red light on one of the steepest hills in town. I was sweating bullets when that car pulled up behind me before I got a green.

 

[UNhooked]

Bought my car without knowing how to drive a stick. Took me 2 hours to drive from the dealership to my house which was 7 miles away 🙂

Takes about six months to get the complete hang of it and about a year to get completely second nature about it

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Had about 3 hours practice (total) before I got mine and had to drive it 30 - 40 miles home. Nothing like purchasing a car and knowing you will have to nerve wrackingly drive it home and home your inexperience with stick doesnt cause something bad. 😀

i had driven a manual once before buying a sports car and driving home, through downtown boston. nothing to it but to do it. 7 years later and still on the original clutch

 

[hans007]

i drive an automatic. but i have this itch to buy a manual sometimes. like today after sitting in a coworkers 2012 mustang GT 6 speed. sigh maybe i shoulda just bought one last time.

anyway i rented a 6 speed miata once after having just barely learning the basics of how to drive on my friends S2000 .

let me say, S2000 insanely hard to learn how to drive stick on and i'd assume if you learned on somethign like that it'd be discouraging. that said , I drove the miata and learned a lot more driving that for 4-5 hours. and i'd say i could probably have commuted in it after that since i was ok on freeways and onramps and such so im sure you will be fine if i could figure it out.

i'd say the hardest thing was getting into first. if you dont drive manual the way you want to push the clutch with your left leg is not all ankle like gas/brake is. thats around when i had that "a ha" moment. i had to move my seat forward compared to my normal car because you need more control with your leg on the left side. if you are only used to using your ankles like brake / gas on an automatic it doesnt give the kind of control you would have using other parts of your leg to hold the clutch at the engagement point. or well that was my experience.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

Depending on how heavy your clutch is, it may not really be feasible to just use your foot/ankle to manipulate it, at least not for any extended period of time.

 

[exdeath]

Getting going is so easy.
Select first gear, 4k revs, dump the clutch, floor the accelerator 😀

Unless you're in an underpowered car on a steep incline, usually you should take off without too much trouble (except spinning tires :awe🙂

Or you just spin the tires and end up rolling backwards anyway... great idea.

Or end up facing oncoming traffic.

 

[Murloc]

if you dont drive manual the way you want to push the clutch with your left leg is not all ankle like gas/brake is. thats around when i had that "a ha" moment. i had to move my seat forward compared to my normal car because you need more control with your leg on the left side. if you are only used to using your ankles like brake / gas on an automatic it doesnt give the kind of control you would have using other parts of your leg to hold the clutch at the engagement point. or well that was my experience.

I understand what you mean, the accelerator just needs an ankle movement, but brake and clutch in a manual need you raising the leg to use them, and a pic shows why:

the brake pedal in an auto is pretty large and precision isn't as needed so unless you need to brake fast you can do the ankle thing too.

 

[CraigRT]

Bought my car without knowing how to drive a stick. Took me 2 hours to drive from the dealership to my house which was 7 miles away 🙂

Takes about six months to get the complete hang of it and about a year to get completely second nature about it

It was definitely nowhere near that long for me, but I guess each person is different.
I drove manual for the first time in a 1987 Saab 900, I bet my friend I could drive the car having never driven one, without stalling it. I did, and I drove it maybe 15 miles that day with next to no trouble at all.

Probably has something to do as well with understanding how it works, where as people who aren't mechanically inclined I find have a hard time learning to drive it.

 

[JCH13]

It was definitely nowhere near that long for me, but I guess each person is different.
I drove manual for the first time in a 1987 Saab 900, I bet my friend I could drive the car having never driven one, without stalling it. I did, and I drove it maybe 15 miles that day with next to no trouble at all.

Probably has something to do as well with understanding how it works, where as people who aren't mechanically inclined I find have a hard time learning to drive it.

I have found explaining in very simple terms how a manual works helps a lot, even for people who are "not mechanically inclined". The car is big and heavy, the engine is small and light, and the clutch connects them.